Still Life’s FLESH is an understated, delicate and poignant artwork
Belgian theatre company ‘Still Life’ offer four stunning vignettes of modern embodiment in their experimental new piece, FLESH. We glimpse into a hospice bedroom, a couple’s date night following facial plastic surgery, a virtual reality headset experience and the wake of four siblings’ deceased mother. These fragments are united as each one occupies the tension between desiring escape from bodily flesh, and nevertheless being inextricably bound by it. The performance itself is muscular and breathes with an uncanny humanness, employing subtle yet highly effective lighting transitions to carry us through FLESH’s dynamic movements.
You could count on two hands the words uttered in this performance; nevertheless through finely detailed physical storytelling, FLESH speaks volumes. ‘Still Life’s hyperrealist influenced design choices offer the piece a sense of uncomfortable immediacy while stylised movement offers a more abstract edge, so that we are never told exactly what to think, rather we are pushed towards introspection.
Under Sophie Linsmaux and Aurelio Mergola’s keen-eyed direction, FLESH has a distinct and well realised vision which is unlike anything else I have seen at this year’s fringe. It is certainly worth the early wake up to see this thought provoking and sharply delivered performance.
Show Listing: https://www.edfringe.com/tickets/whats-on/flesh-1
LISTINGS INFORMATION:
Venue: Main House at the Zoo Southside
Dates: Aug 7th -16th
Time: 10:30am (60 mins)
Ticket prices: £21.50 / concessions £19.50
Fringe box office: 0131 226 0000 / http://www.edfringe.com